It is entirely appropriate that a Chuck Berry song was launched into outer space in the mid-70s, so that distant civilizations would better understand America. Elvis may be the greatest rock and roll artist, but Chuck Berry is the one about whom you say, "without him, there is nothing." He was the first poet laureate of rock and roll, and he gave us our best-known anthems. Elvis lived the story of "Johnny B. Goode," but Chuck Berry wrote it ... and there's an alternate history of rock and roll hidden beneath the fact that Berry originally wrote the song about a "colored boy named Johnny B. Goode" but changed it to "country boy" to broaden the song's appeal.

On a personal note, Chuck Berry also headlined the first rock concert I ever attended, playing the Fillmore along with Eric Burdon and the Animals and the Steve Miller Blues Band. Miller's band backed up Berry for his sets, part of which ended up on Berry's album Live at the Fillmore Auditorium. It's not a bad way to introduce yourself to rock and roll shows, watching Chuck Berry.

Comments

chuck berry

It is entirely appropriate that a Chuck Berry song was launched into outer space in the mid-70s, so that distant civilizations would better understand America. Elvis may be the greatest rock and roll artist, but Chuck Berry is the one about whom you say, "without him, there is nothing." He was the first poet laureate of rock and roll, and he gave us our best-known anthems. Elvis lived the story of "Johnny B. Goode," but Chuck Berry wrote it ... and there's an alternate history of rock and roll hidden beneath the fact that Berry originally wrote the song about a "colored boy named Johnny B. Goode" but changed it to "country boy" to broaden the song's appeal.

On a personal note, Chuck Berry also headlined the first rock concert I ever attended, playing the Fillmore along with Eric Burdon and the Animals and the Steve Miller Blues Band. Miller's band backed up Berry for his sets, part of which ended up on Berry's album Live at the Fillmore Auditorium. It's not a bad way to introduce yourself to rock and roll shows, watching Chuck Berry.